San Francisco Bay Area: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide (Afoot and Afield)

Rating:
Summary: Most comprehensive hiking guide to the CA bay area
Review: Great guide to the bay area. If you want just one book for a hiking guide to the bay area this is the one to buy. Truly up to date and will probably surprise most bay area outdoor enthusiasts with the comprehensive hiking coverage of the area. Even after living here for more than a decade I found new reasons to visit parks that had faded in memory. This guy has truly walked these trails. When you see the accuracy of the trail descriptions, the abundance of information on wildflowers and the choice morsels of local lore you know you are walking with a guide whose heart is in his boots. Another great guide book from this author.

Rating:
Summary: Best new book for the Bay Area
Review: I've had this book for three weeks and appreciate that it covers the whole Bay Area (we live in the east bay). We love to hike with our two children and to keep them enthusiastic it's important that we know where we're going and can talk the experience up and keep the kids excited. By having so many great hikes drawn from the Bay Area's best, Afoot & Afield keeps us from spending our time figuring out the itinerary (and losing the kid's to other pursuits). The kids actually enjoy getting involved comparing hikes and helping us choose.

Weintraub's specialized guides are great also (east bay, north bay etc.), but the beauty of this book is that it pulls you toward other areas of the bay that you might overlook. In truth, nowhere in the bay area is too far for day hiking if you know where to go. This book has expanded our horizons and we have our sights on several hikes we would not have otherwise considered.


Rating:
Summary: An invaluable, "user friendly" guide
Review: The newest title in the outstanding "Afoot & Afield" series from Wilderness Press, Afoot & Afield San Francisco Bay Area by David Weintraub features no less than 102 memorable hiking trips around the greater Bay Area ranging from a 1.5-mile stroll through Golden Gate Park, to rigorous10-mile treks. From M. St. Helena (near Caistoga) the tallest summit in the North Bay (4339 feet), to the Sonoma coast's Kortum trial skirting the Pacific ocean, to the waterfalls of the eastern Santa Cruz mountains near San Jose, to the Peninsula's Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, this is the ideal guide for hikers, dog walkers, bikers, backbackers, and outdoor enthusiasts. An invaluable, "user friendly" guide to personally exploring the coast, canyons, and ridges around the San Pablo and San Francisco bays and beyond, Afoot & Afield San Francisco Bay Area is the ideal and enthusiastically recommended planner for day trips, weekend excursions, or holiday outings.